No one enters or leaves the building

The case is updated.

– We can confirm that there is an unresolved security situation. The police are working on the case, says the Storting’s press officer to Aftenposten on the phone.

All employees have been informed that all entrances are closed due to an unclear security situation. No one gets in or out.

The police in Oslo confirm that they have received a threat and that they are responding to it.

There is talk of a bomb threat.

The first was a threat by mail which was assessed as not real. The assessment changed today when the police received a new threat in a social medium.

– The police could not take the chance that this was just nonsense, says the task leader.

Do a search around the Storting

The police will not go into the details of the threat other than that it is connected to the Storting. They are working to identify the sender.

The police are now searching a large geographical area around the Storting.

– We must make sure that there is nothing left here that we have not found. There is an uncertainty, that is why we are still here, says the task leader.

No search has been made inside the parliament building. The police are confident that the security inside the Storting is good enough.

Armed police on site

There are heavily armed police officers and as many police cars in the area around the Storting. Among other things, they stand in front of the Storting’s main entrance.

Aftenposten’s reporters outside the Storting report that more and more police cars are arriving. There are also several police officers in civilian clothes, but with police vests on, walking around the area.

– The police are on site to ensure the security of the Storting and, in parallel, we are working to investigate the content of the threat. We are on site with several patrols, this to secure the Storting and prevent any incidents, says operational manager of Oslo police district Gabriel Langfeldt to Aftenposten.

The police security service (PST) is also connected.

– We are working to clarify the threat now and work closely with the Oslo police district, says senior adviser and press contact Martin Bernsen in PST to Aftenposten.

The police have no information indicating that there is a danger to third parties.

The threat came in social media

Head of the Storting’s security section, Pål Munck, says they do not know what the threat is. Earlier today, he confirmed to Aftenposten that the threat came from social media.

– It was something we picked up on a social medium that the police have reacted to, says the security chief.

He says it is not dangerous to stay at the Storting.

– Is it dangerous to be outside the Storting?

– It will only be speculation.

The police’s emergency manager says it is safe to travel in central Oslo.

Question time went as normal

When the threat became known, the Storting was in the middle of the weekly question time. Just before 11.30 the meeting ended for the day. It was exactly as planned.

Among the participants in the question time were Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp), Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap).

There was also an audience at the gallery inside the hall.

Aftenposten’s reporter who is inside the Storting reports that the security situation is not very noticeable inside the Storting hall.

The Stortings restaurant is open as usual. Pasta bolognese is served there and there are no signs of panic.

– It’s a strange atmosphere, because inside the Storting everything is as usual but outside the window we see heavily armed police, says journalist Odd Inge Aas.

The Minister of Justice says she was informed about the security situation by text message from her ministry, while she was sitting in the parliamentary chamber.

– It is good that action has been taken immediately. It is always unacceptable when there are bomb threats against the Storting and our democracy, Mehl said when she met the press after question time.

Affects public transport

– It is closed around the Storting, including Prinsens gate. Tram lines 11 and 13 are affected, as well as bus lines 30, 31, 70 and 81, says Øystein Dahl Johansen in Ruter.

The tram will not arrive, while the buses are working on detours. Johansen says the Ruter app has been updated with the delays.

It is also closed to car traffic around the Storting. Pedestrians have been allowed to pass as normal until a little before 12 o’clock. They will probably be kept outside so that the police’s bomb dogs can search the area in peace.